Blues lodge appeal against Terry dismissal

Chelsea have submitted a claim for wrongful dismissal on behalf of John Terry who was sent off against Manchester City at the weekend.

It is understood that Terry will have little chance of his sending-off being overturned as referee Mark Halsey deemed the defender's holding block on Brazilian striker Jo as serious foul play as opposed to a professional foul.

The FA are unable to downgrade red cards to yellow, unless the club can somehow demonstrate that Terry should not have been cautioned.

Team-mate Frank Lampard disputed the dismissal in a post-match interview after Chelsea's 3-1 win at Eastlands, saying: "If you start giving out red cards like that you'll have four or five in a game. Hopefully they'll look at it again and make it a yellow card. It's not a red card when there's two men behind the ball."

Should Terry fail to earn a reprieve, he will miss Sunday's decisive game against Manchester United. Should a three-match suspension be imposed, Terry will also be unavailable for the games against Stoke and Aston Villa.